Men in Black – JenEric Movie Review

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How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 1997 film Men in Black.

Story

This has all the tropes of a hidden magical world urban fantasy and the same basic plot but dressed up in a science fiction and spy story.

It’s done very well despite more than a few slow downs for gags.

Score: 0.5

Characters

Agent K is an interesting character and a great contrast to the overly talkative J. Both get a decent amount of character development and when Smith gets out of his own joking way, his character shines.

Score: 1

Dialogue

There are a lot of nice quippy lines as to be expected from the cast and it’s a really quotable movie.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The movie holds up well almost thirty years later. The aliens are a little muppet-like but still pretty awesome. The camera work and special effects are solid.

The music is pure nostalgia and highly entertaining.

Score: 1

Fun

The entire family liked it. I was impressed with the lack of cringe and lack of offensive jokes. (There were a few fat jokes that made me sigh but nothing heinous.)

Score: 1

Overall

With solid special effects and a cast that is both kick ass and funny, this movie offers a fun story that holds up very well.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

Imposter Syndrome

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Hello my Friends, Family, and Fans;

This will probably come as a shock to you, but your favourite author probably has imposter syndrome.

Image of Big Bird, writing in a notebook, sitting at a large boardroom table with a group of men with laptops.

The root of imposter syndrome for me is that I never feel like I know what I’m doing. I have written or co-written over 15 books and I still feel like I’m just winging it. (Pun intended… don’t forget to vote for Winging It in the Auroras)

I love technology but half of what I do for fixing a computer is googling the answer and the other half is turning things on and off. I sometimes wonder how I manage to make anything work.

The Secret

I think I figured it out. That’s the secret, no matter how confident and in control people seem, they still have insecurities. Writing in particular is an exercise in pushing through those insecurities.

Everyone has doubts, everyone worries they aren’t good enough, and everyone wants to improve. If they don’t, they don’t really care. It’s easy to be confident when you don’t give a crap.

Keep trying new things and just keep moving forward. That’s the only way to prove you aren’t an imposter.

Good luck!

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Our Tropes for “A Study in Aether” – image

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The tropes we use in A Study in Aether

Every book utilizes tropes, even if it’s to subvert them, and A Study in Aether is no exception. This book covers: Magic exists!, Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Detailed worldbuilding, Hidden magical world, Single POV, Kidnapping mystery, and First day of school.
A Study in Aether by Éric Desmarais
Cover art by @pinkpiggy93

Get it now!

(coming soon)
eBook
Paperback

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie – JenEric Movie Review

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How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2026 film The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

Story

The story was about the same level as the Super Mario Bros. video game and had significantly more plot threads that were not resolved.

Score: 0

Characters

The movie doesn’t slow down between set pieces and nostalgia to give anyone much development except Bowser, who then goes back to being a jerk. It would have been nice to have some sort of character bonding other than the one scene of Peach and Mario “not being angry”.

Both Peach and Rosalina suffer from the “Strong Female Character” syndrome where they are unbeatable unless the plot dictates they get captured.

Score: 0

Dialogue

There were some clever pieces of dialogue, a lot of call backs to the games, and some fun silliness.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The animation and easter eggs were wonderful. The space scenes were pretty and the character design was great.

The music was lovely and used lots of themes and sections from the games.

Score: 1

Fun

The kids loved it although even they had questions afterward about some plot points. The adults were less impressed but didn’t hate it.

I loved the nostalgia factor and I should be the prime audience for this, but it mostly left me meh. It wasn’t a good story and the characters were 8-bit.

Score: 0.5

Overall

A pretty animated film with enough nostalgia to keep you interested and some amazing music. Unfortunately, the story isn’t interesting and the characters are flat.

Final Score: 2.5 Stars out of 5

The Gates of Westmeath isn’t dead

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Hello Readers,

This summer, the first two books in The Gates of Westmeath will be going out of print and the rights are returning to us. Thankfully, River City Siren Press has agreed to re-release them and publish book 3 in Fall 2027!

The Gates of Westmeath books 1 and 2 are on sale through the All Lit Up store. (Enter RENPRESS20 at checkout)

Go buy some books!

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Mother’s Day Reflections

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Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;

I’ve been thinking a lot about life and growing up. It’s probably a side effect of editing my first book and dealing with the world’s most stubborn migraine.

This picture, or one just like it, showed up on the kitchen google and I suddenly felt very sad.

Pegasus and Dragon with me in 2021

I love my children and I love who they are now and who they are growing up to be. There are times I see these pictures and I miss them being tiny. Life was, in many ways, simpler back then. If given the chance to go back and re-live that time, I wouldn’t want to. It wasn’t perfect and I certainly didn’t do everything right but it’s part of who we are. Given the chance to go back for a hug and snuggle from those little babies, I couldn’t say no.

I mourn every version of my children while celebrating who they are now. It doesn’t make sense but so little about parenting does.

Then this picture showed up and I felt almost the same feeling.

My Mom in 2006, around Christmas

Again, I wouldn’t want to re-live that time but I wish I could go back for a hug and a good conversation with my mom. I wish I could be with her one more time. I wish I could tell her all about her amazing grandkids and everything Dan and I have accomplished in the past 18 years.

Then this wonderful picture showed up and I felt very different.

Jen and I on our wedding day in 2009. She’s so lovely and my face is very naked.

I love my wife. I loved her very early in our relationship and even through some rough patches, I have loved her for over twenty years. I can’t imagine my life without her. She’s my best friend, my writing partner, and a wonderful mother.

All that said, I have no interest in going back and interacting with a younger version of her. Everything she’s been through, everything she was, has made her into who she is and that’s who I love. All younger versions are shadows of who she is now and I’m overjoyed to have her now.

If you ask me in 5 years, I’ll say that that version of her is my favourite. We’re growing, learning, and living together and that is so special.

I guess If I have a point, it’s that you need to enjoy the people around you as they are now because they are going to grow and change. No one owes you stagnation and when people stop growing, you’ll miss them more than you can ever know.

With Mother’s Day this weekend:

Go hug your children, your mothers, and your wives! Tell them how much you love them because the only thing tomorrow promises is change.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric